Sword moving from right to left

[Paul Elliott]

Frank, I was thinking that change was by unit, not individuals switching from one to another, but a unit wide change might occur. But I doubt anything like a '167 AD' directive went out to all legions to begin oval shield and spatha operations.

Do you think then that the hasta and spatha may have been adopted as a new longer-reach fighting combination, and of course the oval auxilia shield (slightly enlarged) naturally came along with the spear. Use of the oval shield then allowed the sword to be switched to the left with ease, making drawing easier.

Thats a less convoluted argument than my 'theory' above.

All we need now is historical accounts of soldiers suffering from lack of reach with their gladii in the mid-2nd century against cavalry foes! Or accounts of repeated clashes with aggressive mounted troops.

I don't see a chicken and egg problem. The old traditional legion changed to the more flexible and versatile tactics, organisation and equipment of the auxilia cohorts. I doubt this was a step by step approach. If a unit changed equipment, it makes a lot of sense to change all the equipment at once.